An RSA is a special account offered by banks, building societies, credit unions, life insurance companies and prescribed financial institutions. It is used for retirement savings and is similar to a superannuation fund.

You need to know

You will be entitled to a tax offset of up to $540 per year if:

the sum of your spouse's assessable income, total reportable fringe benefits amounts and reportable employer superannuation contributions was less than $13,800

the contributions were not deductible to you

the contributions were made to a superannuation fund that was a complying superannuation fund for the income year in which you made the contribution

both you and your spouse were Australian residents when the contributions were made, and

when making the contributions you and your spouse were not living separately and apart on a permanent basis.

If you had more than one spouse during the income year and you satisfy the conditions for the tax offset for more than one spouse, the tax offset is the lesser of the sum of the tax offset entitlements for each spouse, or $540.

For the purposes of this question, your spouse's assessable income is the amount your spouse wrote at TOTAL INCOME OR LOSS on page 3 of their tax return, unless:

they had a distribution from a partnership or trust

they had income or losses from rent or business (including personal services income)

they had a capital gain or foreign source income,

they made a deposit into a Farm Management Deposit Scheme Account, or

they claimed a deductible amount for a foreign pension or annuity at item D11 on their tax return (supplementary section).

If any of these apply phone 13 10 20 for help to work out your spouse's assessable income before completing this item.

$3,000, reduced by $1 for every $1 that the sum of your spouse's assessable income, total reportable fringe benefits amounts and reportable employer superannuation contributions for the year was more than $10,800

the total of your contributions for your spouse for the year.

The tax offset for eligible spouse contributions cannot be claimed for superannuation contributions that you made to satisfy a family law obligation to split contributions with your spouse.

Completing this item

Step 1

Write the total of your contributions at Contributions paid item T3 on your tax return.

Step 2

If the sum of your spouse's assessable income, total reportable fringe benefits amounts and reportable employer superannuation contributions was $10,800 or less, use worksheet 1.

If the sum of your spouse's assessable income, total reportable fringe benefits amounts and reportable employer superannuation contributions was more than $10,800 but less than $13,800, use worksheet 2.

Step 3

The tax offset is the amount shown at (d) on worksheet 1 or (h) on worksheet 2. Write this amount at A item T3. Do not show cents.

If you had more than one spouse during the year, complete steps 1 to 3 for each spouse. Your tax offset is the lesser of:

the sum of the tax offset you are entitled to for each spouse, or

$540.

Write this amount at A item T3. Do not show cents.

Step 4

Make sure you complete Spouse details - married or de facto on pages 8–9 of your tax return. Include your spouse's taxable income at O, your spouse's total reportable fringe benefits amounts at S and your spouse's reportable employer superannuation contributions at A.

To work out your entitlement to this tax offset you would have used your spouse's assessable income, reportable fringe benefits amounts and reportable employer superannuation contributions. However, because we use taxable income to calculate many other entitlements, we ask you to record your spouse's taxable income (not assessable income) at Spouse details - married or de facto.

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We are committed to providing you with accurate, consistent and clear information to help you understand your rights and entitlements and meet your obligations.

If you follow our information and it turns out to be incorrect, or it is misleading and you make a mistake as a result, we will take that into account when determining what action, if any, we should take.

Some of the information on this website applies to a specific financial year. This is clearly marked. Make sure you have the information for the right year before making decisions based on that information.

If you feel that our information does not fully cover your circumstances, or you are unsure how it applies to you, contact us or seek professional advice.